2012

 Hello! How are you? This post is actually the latest in a series of assignments from an interesting online writing group I've joined. More info about the participating members in this winsome group can be found as you read along. The writing-prompt chosen for the month of April is "dead bunnies", gulp...well, that was my initial reaction. However, after reading some fine writing shared by this talented pool, thought I'd catch the wave of inspiration and weave the prompt into a Chapter entitled "4 months later" on a work-in-progress...

 True to his word, following several months of media speculation, and plenty of second-guessing by the political-pundits, and hushed murmurs within his own trusted inner-circle, Governor James Quinn had made a bold, non-partisan move, tapping a Republican to fulfill the remainder of David Shuman's term. Shuman, Connecticut's longest serving US Senator, had perished in an ill-fated plane crash months before, leaving the governor with the constitutional power to appoint a successor. In a calculated move to improve his tanking statewide approval ratings, and to ensure his party's chances at regaining the Senate seat now held by the inexperienced congressman he appointed, Governor Quinn was banking on an electorate that would ensure one of his more astute, experienced political cronies would regain that seat in the general election. Meanwhile, on the surface, if appointing a popular Republican improved his image statewide as a no nonsense, let's work together chief-executive, that was a good thing.

While the shrewd governor was enjoying his cleverness and new found political footing, some 400 miles away down in the nation's capital, the yet to be named main-character in this storyline rose from his brown leather recliner in the den of his Georgetown condo, picking up speed as he quickened his pace across the living room floor towards the kitchen, where Zoe's incessant barking in the backyard seemed to pierce the still and quiet of an otherwise lazy Sunday afternoon. The beautiful yellow lab's owner, Rose, a young and dedicated congressional intern, had also lost her life in Senator Shuman's mangled private jet that fateful day. Rather than follow his initial instinct to give Zoe away to a good family, he decided to keep her in honor of the trust Rose placed in him to watch her while she set out to accompany Senator Shuman on a campaign swing through the state. One of his favorite memories of the distinguished gentleman was taking a picture together beneath a handsomely framed plaque hanging on his office wall, which read: "No man is so tall as when he stoops to help a child"--Abraham Lincoln

 Zoe was now up on her front legs atop the back-stairway landing, frantically scratching at the kitchen screen door. Bracing himself for impact, he slowly opened the screen door, expecting her to leap into his awaiting arms for a hug, but now that she had his full attention, she suddenly spun around and darted straight towards some bushes near a hugh evergreen shading the white-picket fenceline some 25 yards from the back stoop. Over-running her intended target and sliding a few feet past what appeared to be an emerging brown hole, she let out another loud bark as if to summon him over. "What's the matter, Zoe?" he said calmly, reaching down to gently pet her, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be okay, though his first instinct--attributed to his youthful days spent on the farm-- was wondering where he could grab a large branch if she had stumbled upon a snake somehow. Disarming his fear was the slight movement of what appeared at first to be mice, but closer inspection determined that Zoe had discovered a couple live bunnies amid, sadly, a few dead bunnies...

After contacting the animal rescue hotline to seek help for the surviving bunnies, he returned to the scene, where upon closer examination it appeared that someone or something had dug under a few wooden planks near the tree...

 Thanks for reading along. Please venture over to the following websites for some interesting reading. Please take a few minutes to leave the authors a comment (offering some support, encouragement, feedback, etc. ) Don't hesitate to bookmark them for future reading:

Participants and posts:

orion_mk3 - http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to this month's post)

KatieJ - http://www.crystalwindchimes.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)

kiwiviktor81 - http://storygenerator.net (link to this month's post)

Nissie - http://www.paperheroes.net (link to this month's post)

SuzanneSeese - http://www.viewofsue.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)

pyrosama - http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)

dclary - http://www.davidwclary.com/ (link to this month's post)

randi.lee - http://emotionalnovel.blogspot.com (link to this month's post)

AFord - You Are Here

julzperri - http://www.fishandfrivolity.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)

Penelope - http://poet-slash-writer.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)

Araenvo - http://plottypus.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)

areteus - http://lurkingmusings.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)

magicmint - http://www.loneswing.com/ (link to this month's post)

writingismypassion - http://charityfaye.blogspot.com (link to this month's post)

Turndog-Millionaire - http://turndog-millionaire.com/ (link to this month's post)

Whisky - http://nopart2.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)

Anarchicq - http://anarchicq.com/ (link to this month's post)

Ralph Pines - http://ralfast.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)

Joliedupre - http://www.preciousmonsters.com/ (link to this month's post)

Tomspy77 - http://thomaswillamspychalski.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)

Bogna - http://bemaslanka.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)